The ultimate responsibility for food safety at the retail level lies with retail and food service operators and their ability to develop and maintain effective food safety management systems. The goal of this Manual is to provide you with a practical, HACCP-based approach to evaluate industry's active managerial control of foodborne illness risk factors. It is essential that regulatory program managers design an inspection program based on HACCP principles that guides and supports their field staff in assisting operators with incorporating these principles into their routine activities. Since food safety management systems are designed by retail and food service operators to best meet their own needs, you will need to use a risk-based methodology during your inspections to uncover the systems being used and to evaluate their effectiveness.